Thomas Gould Knihy

Exploring the tension between tragedy and philosophy, Thomas Gould examines the moral and psychological implications of depicting suffering and injustice. He begins with Plato's critiques, highlighting the conflict between the emotional pull of tragedy and the rational ideals of happiness. Gould argues for the psychological necessity of violence in literature and art, differentiating between sympathetic portrayals of victims and those that elicit empathy for perpetrators. This distinction underscores the complex responses to tragedy, religious myths, and political expressions.

This book discusses the elusive centrality of silence in modern literature and philosophy, focusing on the writing and theory of Jean-Luc Nancy and Roland Barthes, the prose of Samuel Beckett, and the poetry of Wallace Stevens. It suggests that silence is best understood according to two categories: apophasis and reticence. Apophasis is associated with theology, and relates to a silence of ineffability and transcendence; reticence is associated with phenomenology, and relates to a silence of listenership and speechlessness. In a series of diverse though interrelated readings, the study examines figures of broken silence and silent voice in the prose of Samuel Beckett, the notion of shared silence in Jean-Luc Nancy and Roland Barthes, and ways in which the poetry of Wallace Stevens mounts lyrical negotiations with forms of unsayability and speechlessness.